Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (20 March 1870-9 March 1964) was a general of the Imperial German Army's East African colonial forces during World War I. Lettow-Vorbeck led 3,000 German troops and 11,000 indigenous African troops during a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Triple Entente in East Africa, and he remained undefeated at the end of the war. Lettow-Vorbeck was dismissed for his rule in the 1919 Kapp Putsch during the November Revolution, and he was involved in the German National People's Party after the war. He died in 1964 at the age of 93.

Biography
Lettow-Vorbeck was born on 20 March 1870 in Saarlouis, Prussia to a family of Pomeranian aristocratic stock. An officer with experience of colonial wars in China and German South-West Africa, LEttow-Vorbeck was sent to command the Schutztruppe (defense force) in German East Africa in April 1914. When the British landed troops at Tanga in November, Lettow-Vorbeck defeated them despite being heavily outnumbered, capturing a large haul of weaponry. After another battle at Jassin in January 1915, he realized such clashes were rapidly exhausting his limited supplies of men and ammunition. From then on, he used guerrilla tactics. Hunted by expanding British forces, Lettow-Vorbeck led his band of around 3,000 whites and 11,000 Africans in a campaign of raids and ambushes, living off the land and sidestepping all attempts to pin him down. Although the guerrillas suffered mounting hardship, discipline and loyalty remained high.

In October 1917, Lettow-Vorbeck was forced to fight at Mahiwa, losing 500 men but inflicting five times as many casualties on his opponents and escaping into Portuguese Mozambique. He was still unbeaten when the war ended. Returning as a hero to Berlin in 1919, he was involved in a failed couo and dismissed from the army.